Locally, there's no shortage of dining choices for pizza, but that's of little concern to CiCi's Pizza executives, who are bullish on expanding their buffet-style brand in San Diego County.

Over the next five years, the Texas-based chain plans to open 11 more restaurants in the county, where today there is just one.

The lone CiCi's in San Diego is on University Avenue near 58th Street, south of San Diego State University.

"We're looking at San Diego and Los Angeles as target markets because we’re so under-penetrated there," said Thomas McCord, vice president of real estate and franchise development. "We’re not a high end pizza concept. We’re about value. We do very well with blue collar households, with people (who) want to take their family, have a full buffet and a nice dinner out for under $5.99."

Besides the city of San Diego, the chain is targeting Chula Vista, La Mesa, El Cajon, Escondido, Spring Valley and Carlsbad for its expansion plans.

Because CiCi's is dominated by franchise-owned restaurants, the company is looking for local operators with deep franchise experience in other brands, McCord said. Each restaurant, he noted, costs roughly $450,000 to develop and will mean 40 to 50 more jobs created.

The company is willing to invest $100,000 per restaurant to help underwrite development costs, but as a condition of that it becomes a non-voting minority shareholder.

Nationwide, the pizza market continues to attract newcomers looking to capitalize on what has always been a popular food choice, making competition all that much stiffer. Throughout the country, there are 67,466 pizza places, including both chains and independently run eateries, according to The NPD Group, a market research firm.

Where CiCi's distinguishes itself, McCord said, is its buffet concept, which includes not only pizza, but also pastas, salads, soups and desserts. The restaurants also make their pizza dough and cinnamon rolls fresh each day.

"We have high school kids who come in and stack the plates and it gets crazy," McCord said. "Our focus is on dine-in, carry out and catering. We don’t deliver. We have a lot of franchisees and encourage them to get involved with the community, they’re involved in charitable events, PTA, school lunch programs. We also have a game room in the back that gives parents some time to stay together."

Founded in 1985 with more than 500 restaurants in 34 states, CiCi’s plans to not only expand its restaurants in individual communities, but it also is interested in growing its presence in airports.